IN
EDUCATION?
GEORGETOWN FLEXES TECH MUSCLES
Each year, Georgetown University Law Center puts
on its Iron Tech Lawyer Competition - a cross
between innovation, technology, and law practice
- where law students show off their apps
designed to solve a legal problem. (Read more
in Campus Connection on page 48).
INDONESIA WOOS EXPATS
President Joko Widodo of Indonesia has set his
sights on foreign lecturers and professors in a bid
to build a world-class educational system in the
country. The move comes as part of a decree liberalizing regulations for foreign workers. Academic
leaders in Indonesia hope that the move will
provide new opportunities for collaboration with
foreigners, not only in teaching but in academic
research as well.
NO MORE LSAT?
In August, the American Bar Association will vote
on a major change to the way students apply to
law schools as it considers allowing schools to
make the infamous LSAT exam optional for new
applicants. The proposed change would allow
schools to evaluate applicants using alternative
exams, such as the GRE, or different, non-exam
criteria altogether.
OHIO'S APPROACH TO BEHAVIOR
At Ohio Avenue Elementary School in Columbus,
Ohio, teachers are trying a new approach to
encourage good behavior among students. Instead
of emphasizing discipline and punishment, teachers
at Ohio Avenue are empowering students to
self-regulate their behavior by providing creative,
individual outlets for students who are frequently
the survivors of trauma at home.
A NEW SET OF ABCs
Teaching literacy can be challenging enough,
but in Kazakhstan, teachers are preparing to teach
students an entirely new alphabet. The country of
nearly 18 million people, located in Central Asia, will
spend the next seven years transitioning from its
current Russian-based Cyrillic alphabet to one
based on the Latin script, similar to that used in
much of Europe and the Americas.
LAW DEGREE, STAT!
While the three-year academic model for
receiving a J.D. remains the most popular, nearly
20 schools - including Arizona State, Gonzaga,
and Northwestern - have opted for an
accelerated, two-year format, which uses the
entire calendar year. One benefit: students can
be ready to report to work sooner.
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HEALTHY LESSONS
Schools in Argentina are launching an innovative
new program to teach healthy eating and combat
childhood obesity. The "Fruit to Your School"
program introduces a year-long curriculum on
healthy eating and a competition among schools
to see which group of students can create the
poster or video that best explains the benefits
of healthy eating. The prize? A year of free fruit for
their school.
EGYPT'S EDUCATION REVOLUTION
The government of Egypt has proclaimed it will
launch an education revolution at the beginning
of the new school year in September. The initiative,
announced this spring, aims to unify curricula across
the country of more than 97 million people and
emphasizes the core areas of math, science, social
studies, and Arabic and English proficiency.
BUSINESS BOOT CAMP - FOR LAWYERS
Do your first-year associates understand how to
perform a merger? What can they tell you about
supply-and-demand principles? Brooklyn Law
School's Business Boot Camp gives new lawyers
a crash course in business concepts and lingo.
The course aims to cover the areas that law
schools neglect to teach.
Take a deep dive into law school in
the modern era in the September
2017 issue of Washington Lawyer at
dcbar.org/bar-resources.
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018
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WASHINGTON LAWYER 33